Army, Navy, Red Cross, and other large philanthropic
organizations. Under the pressure of the need for food control, the
foreign governments had taken over almost completely, early in the war,
the purchases of outside foodstuffs for their peoples, and the Allies
had so closely associated themselves in this undertaking that they had
it in their power, if they cared to use it, to dominate prices to the
American farmer. Hoover very early saw the advisability of an American
centralization of the purchases for foreign export as an offset to this
danger. He further recognized in such a cooerdinating centralization the
possibilities of much good in the stimulation of production and
stabilization of home prices. A Division of Cooerdination of Purchase was
therefore formally set up about November 1, 1917, under the efficient
direction of F. S. Snyder.

In a memorandum dated November 19, the Food Administrator stated that he
considered it vital to the general welfare that all large purchases of
certain commodities should be made by plans of allocation among food
suppliers at fair and just prices, "the efforts of the Federal Trade
Commission to be directed to see that costs are not inflated." The
memorandum further stated that all allotment plans between Allied
countries and the food industries should be entered into with the Allied
Provisions Export Commission through the Division of Cooerdination of
Purchase; and that all estimated and specific requirements of food
products of all characters for the Allied countries should be furnished
the Division of Cooerdination of Purchase by the Allied Provisions Export
Commission and that such requirements shall bear the approval of the
Allied Provisions Export Commission. Also, that on the question of
issuing licenses for the exporting of the purchases, the approval to
export will be arranged by the Food Administration's Division of
Cooerdination of Purchase, and the War Trade Board; and the final action
taken on each requirement shall have the approval of the head of the
Division of Cooerdination of Purchase.

The general plan outlined in this memorandum was the one followed. The
Allied Provisions Export Commission acted as the buying agency for the
Allies and informed the Division of Cooerdination of Purchase of the Food
Administration of the requirements of the Allies; the Food Purchase
Board acted as the recommending buying agency for the Army and Navy and
gave the Food Administrati